This workshop is designed to help early-stage ventures create a sustainable business model and develop a framework for validating that model. This workshop is for all new ventures that are looking for clarity on how to establish a profitable business.

The instructor is Nicola Lacetera – Nicola Lacetera is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management at the University of Toronto Mississauga. He is also with a cross-appointment to the Strategic Management area at Rotman and to the Economics Department. He is an applied economist with a number of research interests. First, he has collaborated with several non-profit organizations to conduct field experiments to study the motivations for altruistic behaviour, and in particular blood and organ donations, thus informing these organizations on how to enhance contributions from donors. A second line of research concerns how ethical beliefs affect the acceptance of certain “controversial” transactions (such as paying for blood or organs, patenting living organisms, or prostitution). Third, he uses large datasets from used car auctions to assess the determinants of value and quality of automobile. Finally, Nico studies how different individual motivations and institutional arrangements affect the production and commercialization of knowledge.